Judge directs jury to return 'not guilty' verdicts due to lack of evidence

Anthony Bloomfiield, 37, has been cleared of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.

A man accused of being involved in a drug dealing operation in Whitley has been cleared on all counts.

Anthony Bloomfield, 37, was jointly charged with Julian Beaton, 27, with possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.

But a judge directed a jury to return not guilty verdicts on Bloomfield on the third day of a trial due to lack of evidence.

Reading Crown Court had heard how police executed a drugs warrant at a house in Basingstoke Road, Whitley, on May 21, 2012 and recovered 91mg of cocaine, 2.6g of crack cocaine and 1.4g of heroin in three areas of the house.

A tick list of drug users, scales and cash were also found in the property.

Mr Bloomfield, who was living at the house at the time and Beaton, of Nire Road, Caversham were jointly charged with one count of possession of cocaine with intent to supply, one count of possession of crack cocaine with intent and one count of possession of heroin with intent.

Beaton admitted the charges at an earlier hearing in April while Mr Bloomfield denied them all.

The prosecution had argued Bloomfield was involved because two wraps of heroin were discovered in Bloomfield's bedroom, his fingerprints were on a set of scales which contained traces of drugs and on a discarded tick list and he had £490 cash in his wardrobe.

But after the prosecution had presented its case, Judge John Reddihough decided there was not enough evidence for a jury to convict him.

He told the jury the presence of an item in a room does not mean a person is in possession of it.

He said: "There is absolutely no forensic or other evidence to connect Mr Bloomfield with any of those drugs."

There was also no forensic evidence the lists of names were in Mr Bloomfield's handwriting and his fingerprints on the scales did not prove ongoing drug dealing.

Judge Reddihough said Mr Bloomfield had said the cash had been earned through his carpet fitting work and there was no evidence it had come from drug dealing.

He said: "It may be that I, perhaps you, may be very suspicious about Mr Bloomfield and whether he had anything to do with these drugs or not but fortunately people in this country can't be convicted purely on the basis of suspicion. It's not enough."

Judge Reddihough directed the jury to return three verdicts of not guilty.

Beaton is due to be sentenced at Reading Crown Court tomorrow morning.

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Anthony Bloomfield, 37, is jointly charged with Julian Beaton, 27, of Nire Road, Caversham, on one count of possession of cocaine with intent to supply, one count of possession of crack cocaine with intent, and one count of possession of heroin with intent